


The McBain Way

by captainamergirl



Category: One Life to Live
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, McBain fam, Rare Pairings, Series, saga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23873845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: A grandiose tribute to the McBain family.
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Riley Colson/Shannon McBain





	The McBain Way

**Author's Note:**

> I picture my OFC Maria being played by a younger Ariana Grande. Happy reading!

** Chapter 1 - Nothing Lasts Forever **   
  
_New Jersey  
Mid-July 2011_   
  
"So is it true that mom let dad know I was coming into the world by singing 'Baby Mine' right here at Gino's?" Michael asked as he looked up at the stage where currently a young blonde woman was mangling Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable".   
  
John glanced at the stage. "Yeah she did," he said. "Not a lot of people have talent like Mom had."   
  
"No kidding," Shannon put in, cringing as the blonde on stage tried to hit a high note and pretty much murdered it. "My ears are bleeding over here!" she shouted pointedly towards the stage and a few people tossed disgusted looks her way. She rolled her eyes back at all of them.   
  
"Mom was a good woman," Michael said, suddenly looking misty eyed. "I just can't believe this morning we ..."   
  
John nodded, feeling a bit emotional himself. He had been feeling it come on all day, ever since he had watched his beloved mother lowered into the ground. He had never seen her heart attack coming. Every time he had talked to her on the phone, she had always told him she was doing well - "fit as a fiddle", she would say. He couldn't help but wonder if during their monthly calls, he had missed some signs that she was ill but he couldn't change that now. He felt guilty that he hadn't been to see his mother for over two years but she had kept up with him by sending birthday cards and all kinds of gifts. She always asked him about his life and he knew she wanted what was best for him. He hadn't wanted to discuss the intimate details but she'd been very sad when he informed her that Liam McBain was actually not a McBain at all but rather a Lovett. She had never cursed but he'd sensed she'd wanted to when she'd called Natalie a "silly, foolish girl" the last time they talked. It seemed so long ago now and sadly, he couldn't change it and try to be a better son to her now.   
  
"Buried her," John murmured as he picked up his beer. He sighed. "I know. Me either." He then held up his beer. "A toast to Eve McBain, an amazing mother, woman, aunt -" she looked at Shannon - "and person. She will be greatly missed."   
  
"Hear, hear," Michael said and the three of them clinked their drinks in unison.   
  
"I'll miss her," Shannon said. "She would have given me some good advice about how to deal with all of this and made things a lot clearer. She probably would have cooked me a casserole too. I'd love one of her delicious casseroles right now." She sighed. "Even if it meant I put on twenty pounds eating it..."   
  
"I loved her casseroles too," Michael said. "I loved everything about our mom."   
  
John nodded. "Me too."   
  
Shannon nodded. "Me three." She ran a hand through her long, dark hair. "I can't believe I haven't seen you two in like six years. And this is why we meet up - because of a funeral. We should have done more family stuff."   
  
"I agree," Michael said. "Maybe we should have a mini-family reunion soon. Just us McBains."   
  
John looked at Michael's ring-free hand once again. Michael hadn't said anything about it but his showing up at Eve's funeral without Marcie at his side was very telling. "Does that include your wife and son?"   
  
Michael looked around sheepishly before turning back to face his brother. "You noticed," he said simply.   
  
John sighed and Shannon asked, "Noticed what?"   
  
Michael sighed too and ran a hand through his cropped, dark brown, almost black hair. "Marcie and I ... We're getting a divorce."   
  
"Good. I never liked her," Shannon said.   
  
John and Michael stared at her and John worried Michael would throttle Shannon for that comment alone but he should have known his brother was not that type of guy. Instead Michael said, "You only dislike Marcie because she was friends with Jen Rappaport."   
  
Shannon crossed her arms. "What's that have to do with anything?" she asked in a challenging voice.   
  
"It means you hated Jennifer and everyone she cared about. Except for Rex Balsom and now Riley what's-his-face - which speaks for itself."   
  
Shannon now looked like the one who was going to clobber Michael rather than vice versa. She leaned her slender body over the table and balled her fists in front of her. "Are you saying I was jealous of Jennifer?"   
  
"You tell me," Michael said flippantly. "You're living her life now."   
  
Shannon was immediately flying out of her seat but John managed to catch her before she did any serious damage to Michael's stubbly face. "Hey now," he said and held her away from Michael easily even as she twisted and turned in his arms. "All of our nerves are raw after today but Mom would not want us acting like this."   
  
"He started it," Shannon said petulantly but then stopped struggling in John's arms. "But I'll behave - for Eve's sake."   
  
Michael rolled his eyes. "How magnanimous of you."   
  
John glanced at his brother as he eased Shannon back down into her chair. "C'mon, you two. I know you're having a rough time but Michael, drop the surly attitude you're sporting and Shannon, cool your temper. Again, this is not what Mom would want for her three kids - and yes, Shannon, she thought of you as a daughter."   
  
Shannon smiled a little and quickly dashed away a tear that escaped her left eye. "I thought of her as the mom I never really had. My own mom was such a loser ..."   
  
Michael looked at Shannon sympathetically and then reached out and touched her hand. "Sorry for snapping at you, I really am. It's just Marcie and I are a raw topic right now."   
  
Shannon looked at him and then nodded begrudgingly. "Yeah, me and Riley are too. So let's drop it and talk about John's life instead."   
  
John smirked a little. "My life? Why me? Nothing interesting ever happens with me."   
  
"Not true - at least not according to Eve," Shannon said. "She told me about you and slutty Natalie."   
  
Michael sighed and John shook his head. "You never learn your lesson, do you?" he said. "Don't talk about people like that."   
  
Shannon put her daiquiri to her lips. "Like you've never thought that," Shannon said. "You're - what did Michael call it? - magnanimous and all but you're not blind. Natalie was trash when I knew her and apparently always will be."   
  
"Enough with this topic," John said.   
  
Michael nodded. "Please... Anyway," he added, "we could talk about when we can have a McBain family reunion and no, before either of you ask, I doubt Marcie will be there. Our divorce isn't exactly amicable."   
  
Shannon hrmped like she wasn't surprised but feigned zipping her lips.   
  
John smiled. "A family reunion the McBain Way sounds okay," he said. "Maybe in a few months ..."   
  
Michael shook his head. "No, John, we should do it sooner. As today proves, you never know when things are going to change forever."   
  
John nodded his agreement. "You're right. What should we do?"   
  
"No camping, please no camping," Shannon begged.   
  
"Alright, camping is out," John said with a lift of his lips. "So why don't you two come visit me in Llanview?"   
  
Shannon wrinkled her nose. "What would we want to do that for? Llanview is lame. I say we do it up right in New York City. We can take in some Broadway shows and shop and -" She broke off as she noticed her cousins' matching facial expressions. "What's wrong with New York City?"   
  
"Nothing," Michael said. "But I'm not spending two weeks carrying your bags from store to store."   
  
"Agreed," John said. "We'll have to think of something though. I'm here for the rest of the week. We have time, god willing."   
  
A silence faded over the group then as they looked at each other, each realizing that time was of the essence. Eve's death had made them realize that nothing lasted forever.   
  
XoXoXo   
  
Twenty minutes later, John had paid the tab for their drinks and walked with them out the door onto the busy city street. Even at nearly eleven p.m., the streets of New Jersey were bustling on a Saturday night. It was tourist season and that reality show had turned Jersey into a hotspot for visitors to come to from far and wide.   
  
John and Michael were staying at a hotel and Shannon was heading back to her apartment downtown where she lived with Riley Colson. John didn't know the specifics of how those two came to be together but he had seen them together at the funeral this morning - noted the way Riley had held Shannon protectively to his chest as she cried and John had sensed there were true feelings there despite the fact that Shannon had alluded to there being trouble in paradise over drinks.   
  
They hailed a taxi cab for Shannon and she was about to climb in when they all suddenly heard a female voice calling, "John? John McBain?"   
  
All of them turned around to see an attractive, olive-skinned young woman of no more than twenty years of age hurrying up the sidewalk towards them. She was dressed in super short-shorts and a tank top that left very little to the imagination. Her long black hair was all piled up into a messy bun atop her head and she was wearing a necklace that John recognized right away. He couldn't believe it was really her. After all these years...   
  
"Maria," he said. "Maria Gallo."   
  
He heard Shannon say  _"Isn't she a little young for him?"_ loudly and pointedly but Michael shushed her as he watched John lean over and hug the buxom young woman.   
  
"I can't believe it! I can't believe you're here," Maria said and clutched John around the waist. "You look just the same except your hair is longer. No more crew cut."   
  
John ran a hand self-consciously over his head. "Yeah, I ditched that look. It was so police-issue nineties," he joked.   
  
Maria laughed. "I don't look the same do I?"   
  
John shook his head. "No ... you're taller," he said, avoiding saying the obvious - that she was popping out of her shirt. "A lot taller."   
  
Maria smiled and hugged John again before Shannon got really curious and moved over to them. "John, aren't you going to introduce us to your little friend?"   
  
Maria immediately zeroed her eyes in on Shannon and glared at her. "Who are you?"   
  
"No fair," Shannon said, shaking her finger mockingly. "I asked first."   
  
John felt like he was going to have to break up a second fight tonight so he stepped between them. "Shannon, this is Maria Gallo. Maria, this is Shannon, my cousin."   
  
Shannon looked at John. "How do you two know each other?"   
  
John looked at Maria, swallowing hard for a moment before saying, "Maria's my god-daughter."


End file.
